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Message: <blockquote data-quote="reanjr" data-source="post: 3776466" data-attributes="member: 20740">The only reason halflings are called halflings and not hobbits is because of fear of (potential or actual) intellectual property complaints from the Tolkien estate.  Not to mention, "halflings" is what they were called by Men in Tolkien (or Perrianath by Elves).  This is analogous to Elves calling themselves Quendi or the Eldar, but being called Elves by Man.And there are no IP concerns for Elves and Dwarves because they are mythological creatures with a long documented history that stems back before copyright.  The earliest mention of Hobbits of within the last 150 years and it could probably be argued is primarily defined in its fantastical sense by one man.No, renaming them would be silly.  If you make an Elf an Elf, but call it a Foo, people will just think, "oh, so you mean Foos are just what we call Elves?"  If it's an Elf, call it an Elf.</blockquote>